Ask YC: Why can't anyone compete with craigslist? | Hacker News: To beat Craigslist, you need to find something about Craiglist that can not only be done better -- but that users actually want more than Craigslist's reach. Both those requirements need to be there for a competitor to have a chance.
In other words, it's not sufficient enough to say, "Somebody could easily build a better-looking Craiglist". Users aren't willing to post or browse classifieds on a site that may look nicer by doesn't have the same reach.
Likewise, it's not sufficient to offer a site that has "modern" (Web 2.0) tools. Again, that doesn't help users with their primary objective: getting their ad in front of as many people as possible.
So does Craiglist even have an Achilles' Heel then? In my opinion, the one thing that absolutely sucks about posting an ad to Craiglist is getting a ton of flakey or illegible responses from people who are just wasting your time. I don't bother to post small items there anymore because it's just not worth the trouble. If someone could develop a site that filters out all the flakes, I bet you'd have a compelling reason for people to start using it.
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